Folks, I am a little anxious tonight.
In that box to the right, just under the photo of a truly modern Jane, it says that I "want a Masters degree without all that work". Truer words have never been spoken.
I renewed my teaching license a few years, but time it is a ticken', and now I only have two years left to renew again. Fortunately Aaron has a license for his job, too, and can appreciate that it's usually easier to go through the renewal process than let it expire and try to get a new one. I really do plan to go back to teaching, possibly part time once Adam is in 1st grade, so I do need to get this done.
The last time, I had a slew of continuing education credits from my stint teaching middle school for three years. Plus, I made a half-hearted attempt at grad school (I never should have tried to be a teaching assistant - TA- for a class. I think if I'd just stuck to TAKING one class, things would have been much better. Anyway.) Those credits, plus a couple easy online classes for specific content areas, and I had all the credits needed.
This time? It's not going to be so easy. First of all, I haven't worked in almost six years. I also haven't taken any other classes since my last renewal. All of which means that I'm starting to get stressed about what it's going to take for me to keep that license.
My last graduate school attempt was for a Masters in English, which is much harder than a Masters in education. But still, I'm not sure if I'm willing to do the work required for that degree, either - I mean, I DO have 3 little kids and spend a good part of my day wiping poopy butts. Plus, I have a tendency to like big ideas in my head, but not so much when it comes to the nitty gritty. (Aaron is constantly teasing me about my ambitious gardening projects that I end up forgetting to water...)
A local university ( in Minnesota, since that is where I'm licensed) has a degree for childhood & young adolescent literature - does THAT sound fun or what?! There are only 3 classes required - if I could somehow manage one a semester, things may not be so dire. (Just try and convince Aaron of that, will you?)
I really need to call MN's department of education and get some advice on how to go about this in the most painless way possible.
Honestly, the part I'm dreading the most is asking my former references to have faith in me again. They were so kind and complimentary before, I'm rather worried that now they'll be all, "THAT girl didn't even have the decency to finish her LAST program? And now she wants to start ANOTHER one? What a looo-ser."
Oh wait, maybe that's just what I'm saying to myself.
Quick, someone tell me about something terrible that happened from not going through the proper paperwork!
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
2 years ago
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2 comments:
Another factor to consider between an MA and an ME is when the classes are offered. ME classes, at least when my wife got hers at NDSU, tended to be once a week evening classes when balancing family and school. The students also tended to be a bit older than in other masters programs on campus. An English MA might have you in classes with post-modern 22 year olds without as much life experience to bring to the table as you now have. But then my wife got pregnant the last semester of her studies and hasn't professionally used the degree...but being trained as a counselor has been good background for parenting and has better prepared her to take on the role of Troi when playing "Star Trek : The Next Generation".
Liz, you know my story right?? I forgot to renew my license during the summer. YUCK. Big fine, big hassle, big embarrassment. JUST DO IT. : )
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